AbbVie has announced its intent to acquire Cerevel Therapeutics in a transformative deal valued at approximately $8.7 billion.
This move aims to bolster AbbVie's presence in the neuroscience sector by tapping into Cerevel's pipeline targeting psychiatric and neurological disorders.
Among the standout Cerevel assets is emraclidine, a positive allosteric modulator currently undergoing phase 2 trials for schizophrenia. Beyond emraclidine, its pipeline includes assets such as tavapadon for Parkinson's disease, CVL-354 for major depressive disorder, and Darigabat for treatment-resistant epilepsy and panic disorder.
Founded in late 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cerevel was initially supported by Pfizer research and initial capital from Bain Capital.
The acquisition, slated to conclude by mid-2024 pending regulatory approvals and shareholder consent from Cerevel, is the second mega-deal for AbbVie in the past week. The drugmaker made headlines with the announcement of its acquisition of Massachusetts-based ADC specialist ImmunoGen just last week. The deal, valued at approximately $10.1 billion, is centered around ImmunoGen's flagship cancer therapy, Elahere.
The acquisition not only provides AbbVie with a foothold in the ovarian cancer space but also grants access to ImmunoGen's follow-on pipeline of next-generation ADCs. These promising programs have the potential to bring transformative advances across various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.